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Individuals with Down syndrome have been generally described as having high levels of oxidative stress, which have been associated to an increased morbidity. Fortunately, recent studies have reported that aerobic training may upregulate antioxidant defence system both in general population and individuals with trisomy 21. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of aerobic training in reducing protein oxidation. To achieve this goal, 31 adolescents with Down syndrome performed a 12-week training program on a treadmill with 3 days/week, consisting of warm-up (15 min), main part (20-35 min) at a work intensity of 60-75% of peak heart rate (HRmax=194.5-[0.56 age]) and cool-down (10 min). A control group included seven age-, sex- and BMI-matched adolescents with trisomy 21 that did not perform any training program. Plasma carbonyl content was determined by means of a slightly modified Levine method. Pre- and post-training carbonyl contents were 1.98±0.2 [95% confidence intervals (95% CI): 1.94-2.02] nmol/mg protein and 1.16±0.1 (95% CI: 1.14-1.18) nmol/mg protein, respectively. When compared with baseline values, it was decreased significantly (1.98±0.2 vs 1.16±0.1; P<0.001). It was concluded that 12-week exercise program significantly reduced protein oxidation in adolescents with Down syndrome. Further long-term follow-up studies are required to determine whether correction of this oxidant imbalance improves clinical outcomes of individuals with trisomy 21. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Previous studies have reported that obese people with trisomy 21 suffer from lowgrade systemic inflammation. A recent study has found that aerobic training reduced inflammation in obese women with Down syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, the study reported in this paper is the first to determine for how long these effects were maintained after completion of the programme. Methods Twenty premenopausal obese women (18-30 years old) with Down syndrome volunteered for this study. Eleven were randomly assigned to the intervention group and performed a 10-week aerobic training programme, 3 sessions per week, consisting of warming-up followed by treadmill exercise (30-40 min) at a work intensity of 55-65% of peak heart rate and a cooling-down period. The control group included 9, age, sex and BMI matched women with Down syndrome that did not perform any training programme. Fat mass percentage and distribution were measured. Plasma level of IL-6 and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were monitored. Time-course changes for these outcomes were assessed at pre- and post-intervention. Further, they were re-evaluated at 1, 3 and 6 months after completion of the programme. Results Three months after completion of the programme, plasma levels of IL-6 and hs-CRP were significantly increased. Up to 6 months later, both fat mass percentage and waist circumference (WC) were significantly increased. Furthermore, physical fitness was also impaired in the intervention group. No changes were observed in the control group. Conclusion A 3-month detraining period significantly impaired chronic inflammation in obese women with DS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]